New Blood
by valen.locke
Summary: [Chapter 6 loaded!] Rufus Shinra survived and he's back to his richboy self. Well, things had to happen leading him to Tifa Lockheart and this annoying son of hers. What's up with the singleparent family? And what's wrong with Mt. Nibel? Read and Review!
1. Prologue: Escape

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 and all that's associated with it are not mine but Squaresoft's. This story is continued from the fanfiction Agrias started.

**PROLOGUE**

**Escape**

"Hey! Wake up!" A gruff voice that could only come from the old man who owned this old place rang in his ear "Come on! Rise and shine now. The new chicobos need to be checked on to see if their are still in one piece or already chyme running down that damned solon's intestines!"

The blond-haired man groaned and turned over his straw-sewn, poor excuse of a bed. He longed to shout at his boss the fact that he just slept about an hour ago since the barn where his poor-excuse-for-a-bed was located reeked of the smell of darn chocobos.

"Come on, Wraith!" the chocobo man (I forgot what/who he's called) called again.

"Yeah, alright, I'm coming!" Wraith replied, sitting up and rubbing his eyes from sleep, if one would call that darn snooze sleep, that is. He brushed the straw from his face and hair and climbed down the ladder that lead up to his 'room' inside the barn.

The chocobo man was waiting for him right below. Funny, but he did not look quite well this morning.

"Heyyah, Wraith," he began, "You look like hell. Didn't you get any sleep?"

Before his worker could answer, he continued, rather nervously, "Uh... I... Hey Wraith! Don't get mad, ok?"

Wraith raised an eyebrow at that. "Why?"

The chocobo man seemed to shiver. "I... Well... The farm... The farm... Well..."

"Can you just get on with it?" Wraith sighed heavily, producing sweat on the older man's face.

'Man, he's sweating like a...'

His thoughts were interrupted when the chocobo man continued, "You're fired..."

It was neither among surprise, disappointment, nor anger that registered on Wraith's face, but wonder. The chocobo man, after delivering his two-word statement, turned a mixture of gray and green, looking as if he's going to get sick.

"Well," he continued, although just barely, "I didn't mean to say it like that Wraith... It's just that you're like a son to me now and it just bugs me seeing you work like a stable boy, trying to make enough money to buy a chocobo for yourself, to cross that damned swamp without worrying Midgar Solon will come and eat ya..."

Wraith, honestly, did not mind being 'fired' since he was planning to leave the farm soon anyway. But the wonderment how the chocobo man managed to say all those things without being sick all over him was enigmatic. And now, he was still continuing what he was going to say.

"I, well... I contacted someone from Junon and asked if he needed someone with skill. He said he needed a mechanic. So... Wraith... I'm sending you over to Junon. You could be a mechanic there."

"What makes you sure that I know a mechanic's job?" Wraith asked.

"Well... You know a lot of things, that's for sure. And you're intelligent. Makes me wonder where you really came from. You'll not be having any trouble learning how to be mechanic and do your thing. When you came here, it was clear from your face you never tended chocobos and you did fine. I never had fine chocobos like the ones you raised before you arrived. Junon will be a better place for you to work in. It's a good city with more opportunities. More opportunities than staying here in the barn, anyway. And who knows, you may be the one to rebuild Midgar and be powerful as those Shinra's!"

That surprised him. But oddly touched by what the small elderly man said, Wraith nodded and said, "Thanks."

--- --- --- --- ---

Wraith chuckled to himself as he finished packing his stuff and walked over to the golden chocobo the chocobo man was kind enough to offer, without payment of course.

He was glad not because he was leaving the chocobo farm. Actually, he was rather sad he was. The chocobo man was really something. Something he never really had in his life. With that, he reflected how this nowhere place changed him, or changed a part of him, at least. He remembered himself as an arrogant bastard who had a bastard of a father, not considering his 'mode' of birth. Well, he was still an arrogant bastard now, only which he just had a 'break' from it working at the stables.

But he was glad. Glad that he was beginning to get somewhere. Junon will be a good place to start making real money and do what he is supposed to do. In a year or two, or maybe three at most, he would be able to stand as a formidable man once again and the glory that was once his will be in his grasp once more.

Smiling with that thought, he mounted the chocobo the chocobo man oddly named _Rufus_, bade goodbye to the elderly man, who returned the gesture, and rode towards Midgar Solon's swamp. He would be in Junon in less than twenty-four hours.

Yes, formidable. Just like he once was. Just like Rufus Shinra once was. After achieving what he's supposed to achieve in less than three years, he only needs to find his Dark Nation to rock the world once again. He flipped back his very blond hair and stroked his double-barreled shotgun. Some things never change.

--- --- --- --- ---

The woman by the window sighed against the darkness as the blanket of the starless night loomed over still-tiny town of Nibelheim, now turned a mining town because of the large deposits of materia in the ranges of Mt. Nibel. Her eyes roamed over the empty streets below and reflected upon her future, which was never sure. The future was never sure. But then again, when she really thought about it, she was a lucky one. Not everybody who experienced what she had undergone reached this far in life. Yes, she was a miner-- one of the very few female miners in the town, in the whole world for that matter, and all of it was only a sign of the hardships in her life.

'So much for heroes who were left to face the world alone.'

She chuckled. Well, at least, the time of the shovels and pick axes were through. I WAS a miner, yeah. But I've got my old life back. I've got my life back, after seven years.

Her thoughts were distracted by a shuffling noise behind her. She looked back and found her pride and joy smiling back at her.

"Hey," he said, his intense Mako-induced eyes searching her sad ones, but keeping a subdued smile on his lips, "Are you alright?"

"Of course," she said, her smile matching his, "Why wouldn't I be?"

He shrugged at that.

"How's your day?"

"Hmph! That sad-ass twerp won't be showing his pig face around here anymore!" he said, and laughed heartily, his spiked blond hair swaying with the movement of his head.

"What did he do this time?" she asked, walking over to the kitchen to prepare their meal. Their house was a mediocre one so anyone in the house could see everything from wherever he stood, except for the two bedrooms and the bathroom which were covered with doors. Her old house in Nibelheim was demolished years before to accommodate rather small houses for people who came to Nibelheim to mine on the mountains. The only 'original' house that stood was the Shinra mansion.

"He called the bar a place for... you know... Hmph... I wonder how kids these days get those kinds of thoughts... weird!" he bent down and removed his boots. He then motioned to throw them onto the couch.

Too bad, Tifa saw him first.

As he did, "Rios! Do that and you'll be sorry! The last time your boots had something unpleasant under them!" a high-pitched voice interrupted his routine which made him jump, his boots flying into the air and into the fireplace.

"Mom! Look what you made me do!" he said and rushed over to the fireplace to retrieve his boots. He took them out quickly, padded out the ash from them, and checked for some damage. Luckily there was none, he realized, sighed and checked some more as if his boots were the most important things in the world.

Tifa smiled before the scene. Yes, her pride and joy. The only one who was left in the world for her. The one given by that certain someone whom she thought cared for her deeply only to find him gone one day to 'find himself' or so he said. The one person who kept her strong throughout the seven years of living with nothing but a broken heart and a pick-axe to let her come through. The one with Mako eyes, burning as that of the man before him, but instead of them the color of the sky, they were the color of blood. Yes, his son -- Cloud's son. Her son. HER son.

After he left, she had wasted her life away, even if she was pregnant. Good thing her son did not turn out a mentally retarded child. She spent her money on useless things until she had nothing left. Nothing left to support her child. Then she came into grips of all that's happened. Cloud's gone and there's a slim chance he would be back. He probably had found what he was looking for and now was celebrating the goodness of his life, while she waited for nothing.

She refused to remember the night he left. She only focused on what or who's laid before her. She now has her bar, and her Rios. She only prayed nothing or no one would take those away, especially the latter.

She placed Rios's plate on the table and motioned to call for him to dinner.

--- --- --- --- ---

"Good night," Tifa said, as she smiled and placed a kiss on Rios's forehead.

"G'night mom," Rios whispered and yawned, "See ya tomorrow". He drifted off to sleep even before Tifa pushed herself from his bed.

Sighing, she walked over to the window to make sure no windows were hanging open as if inviting the cold to come in.

But the darkness outside beckoned her to think about him again.

'Where are you, I wonder? Are you sleeping right now too? Are you warm? Comfortable? Oh how I need you right now. And he needs you too. Are you coming back? To see him? I don't care if you'll come back not to see me, but just come see him. He needs to know how alike you two are. Except for your eyes. And... and... PTA's coming. Are you coming back?'

A tiny tear escaped from Tifa's eyes. And then another. And another.

"Mom,"

Tifa jumped at the hushed voice. She turned to it.

"He's not worth crying for," Rios was sitting up in his bed, looking at her. He raised his arms toward her, beckoning her to come to him.

Tifa walked over to his bed, sat down and hugged him tightly. Tears were flowing from her eyes now.

"It's ok, mom, I won't leave you. I won't be like him. NEVER like him," Rios whispered, trying to soothe his mother.

After all that's over, Tifa slept, holding her son.

- End of Chapter -

--------------------------------------------------

A/N

Hey guys! I made some major changes in the story. I made chapter 1 a prologue 'coz that's what it is...

I referred to Agrias before making these changes, of course, so that I wouldn't worry about cases of plagiarism.

Thanks for reading and oh... the former chapter 2 is now chapter 1 and so on...

Please do leave a review and if anyone was bothered by me changing chapters and all... I apologize!!!

Again, thanks and take care! :)

Valen Locke


	2. Chapter 1: Dreams, Burglars, and Mako

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 and all that's associated with it are not mine but Squaresoft's.

**CHAPTER 1**

**Dreams, Burglars, and Mako**

Whispers in the night woke Wraith from his uneasy sleep. His blue eyes scanning the white expanse of the ceiling before he slowly sat up and motioned to pull the covers from him, only to find out he wasn't covered with blankets at all. And he was wearing his white overcoat with his black turtleneck sweater and white pants underneath. He was wearing his usual-looking clothes. He flicked his hair from his face and threw his muscular legs over to the side of the bed.

The whispers had stopped, he realized. He shook his head and another realization came to mind—he was sweating! His face was soaking wet and wondered why he hadn't felt the liquid when he touched his face as he flicked his bangs before. And strange... The sweat smelled weird.

Then he looked at his hands. The room was dark. But not dark enough to recognize the sweat was not sweat.

But blood.

He was not given time to wonder about it anymore. Pain shot up through his head and he fainted. Fainted away into the darkness that seemed to swallow up his room, leaving no traces of light.

--- --- --- --- ---

A male scream followed by a difficult breathing interrupted the stillness of the night. The figure shot up to a sitting position on his bed, immediately feeling his face for sweat. When he did felt the wetness, he looked at his hands and sighed with relief. No blood.

He shook his head and looked at his bedside clock. "4:25," he said a loud. He got up and went straight to the bathroom. When he got out thirty minutes after, he looked brand new. The once disheveled hair was now in place, his sleepy eyes were now replaced with cynical ones, his appearance that was once of a nightmare-shocked child was now of a mean-looking villain.

After dressing himself with his usual-looking clothes, he grabbed his cellular phone and ordered a limousine in front of his mansion in no more than five minutes.

He smiled sardonically and said, "Brace yourself world, Rufus Shinra is back." He took his double-barreled gun from the golden rack where he places his weapons, and headed out as his transportation veered in his compound.

--- --- --- --- ---

At 4:25 a.m. in the other side of the Planet, a boy of seven years got out from his bed after another sleepless night and went outside of his room to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for himself and his mother, who was probably still tired right now after returning home late only a few hours before. He had heard her come in his room and place a kiss on his forehead before proceeding to her own room to sleep.

Only a few minutes left until her alarm clock goes off and she'll get up again to prepare breakfast for the both of them. Rios made it a point to go to her room first and turn off her alarm clock and prepare the meals himself. His mother needs her rest.

As he headed into the kitchen, something moved from outside the house followed by a muffled but audible noise. He decided to check it out. For a seven-year-old, Rios was not afraid of monsters and the like. For the record, he made it a living of killing off monsters that inhabited Mt. Nibel to help out his mother with the bills, without Tifa's knowledge of course.

He took his two-hand sword from his hidden place under the seat of the couch and quietly unlocked and got out from the backdoor. The noise came from the front yard. Like a thief in the night, he slipped from one place to another following the peculiar noise. Peculiar, because as he went nearer to the sound, the less he thought of it as coming from a burglar or a monster. One reason was that it was not as if it was trying to break in the house. Another reason came as realization hit him, the noise came from a small form, although bigger than he was, and it was trying to pull something from somewhere. It looked as if it was stuck or something.

He decided to surprise it, just for the fun of it all.

He rose from the shadows, stepped behind the figure and bawled like Ifrit.

The figure screamed and ran without looking behind her. Of course, she was stuck so she couldn't get away. She cried loudly instead and threatened, "Come near me and you'll be sorry! My friend's a martial artist and if you kill me, you're dogfood!"

"Aunt Yuffie?" Rios asked, grinning as he recognized the voice.

"Rios!?" Yuffie exclaimed and sighed aloud. Then a pause and a shout , "You darn crazy kid!!! You could have given me a heart attack!!!"

"What's going on?" another voice joined in. It was Tifa. She was standing by the front door, with a lamp attached to her hand.

"Uh, hi mom," Rios said, still grinning. So much for the rest he wanted his mom to have, "Aunt Yuffie's here."

Yuffie turned around to face her long-time friend and cried with joy. "Tifa! Your son just killed me!"

Tifa laughed and walked over to her. She was stuck in a hole Rios was digging up earlier to plant some lemon seeds.

"Good to see you Yuffie!" Tifa said and hugged her after pulling her foot from the darn hole. Yuffie hugged her back. "Good to see you too, Teef!" She seemed to forget her face was full of dried tears.

"Uh... I hate to spoil the moment, but it's cold out here. Let's come inside, shall we?" Rios suggested.

Yuffie flashed him a killing look but smiled, "Rios, you nuts!"

"Yeah..." Rios laughed.

--- --- --- --- ---

"Sir, we've got a problem," a somewhat young man interrupted him as he was scanning the reports his secretary had given him as of yesterday and this morning. Wraith looked at him with an emotionless glare, making the poor man back away a bit before continuing, "There's a man in the lobby demanding to see you, Sir."

"And how is that a problem, Heine?" came an emotionless reply.

"He's rather angry about something, Sir. Bellowing ShinCorp and other things," then he paused as if thinking about something, "Or was that Shinra? But there are no Shinra's here, Sir."

Wraith looked at him but not really at him. It was rather through him. Shinra? He decided to check it out for himself.

When he stood up, the other man balked and looked as if he was panicking. He bowed clumsily that he almost fell on his face and scampered away. Wraith smiled an evil smile. It was good to have people do that again. _Or was it really?_ He shook his head, flicked back his hair, and strode out of his office.

'He looks familiar,' he told himself as he looked down at the 'problem' Heine had informed him about. Red hair, arrogant posture...

"Where is he, godammit?! The one who owns this place! I demand to see him at once!" the man bellowed amongst the people there, who really trying very hard not to run for their lives.

That voice. "Reno," It was not a question, rather, it was a statement, said through gritted teeth.

Reno looked up and his eyes bulged, stunned. As he stared at the blond man who was standing behind the railings of the second floor, looking down on him, he tried to say something but found out he could not utter a word at all. He just kept staring.

Wraith grinned in a manner that was not pleasant at all. "Reno. Reno... Whatever your last name is," Wraith said, "How are you? Still alive, I see."

"Shin..." Reno tried his voice, but unfortunately, he was cut off.

"Welcome to ShinCorp. I'm Wraith Shin. President of ShinCorp Group of Companies,"

Reno raised an eyebrow.

"I've been expecting you. Now, if you don't mind, follow me," Wraith ordered and started walking towards his office. Reno did what he was told, although the mean surprise was still clearly stamped on his face.

After closing the door and making sure it would not let any uninvited personnel to interrupt, Wraith motioned Reno to find a chair and sit, but not on his chair, of course. He walked over behind his desk and sat down on his expensive leather arm chair. He and Reno had a staring contest. But Reno was the first one to bulge.

"Rufus? Is that really you?" Reno said rather stupidly. He was leaning towards the table, his neck impossibly stretched out from his collar to get a better look at him.

"Yes, Reno. It's really me," Rufus replied sarcastically, enjoying the weird look on his former-employee's face.

"B-b-but..." the other man stammered, "You were dead. You practically blew up when Diamond Weapon attacked Midgar!"

"I didn't _blow _up. I was only battered and bruised beyond recognition, but other than that, my insides were still intact, making it possible for me to go traipsing all over the place without having to worry about I leaving my spleen behind."

Reno frowned. 'Still the same sarcastic Rufus, I see,' "But how did you end up here?"

"Long story," Wraith, or rather Rufus, replied rising from his chair and turning his back to Reno, "Don't really want to talk about it." Then he cast him with a sideways look. "The others are not with you, are they?"

"They were," Reno said, "Until a few days ago when Vincent Valentine brought us to the new headquarters, which is in now Nibelheim, by the wa..."

He was cut off by Rufus, "Vincent Valentine?"

"Yeah. One of your father's former Turks. The one experimented by Hojo. You know, whose girlfriend's womb became the dwelling place of little zygote Sephiroth?"

"Right. Go on,"

"After Sephiroth's fall, we had to stay in low profile. We hanged around Bone Village. Valentine showed up and requested us to go to Nibelheim, where we stationed in your family's old mansion. He said he had something going on there, in the mountains. Something about Mako being reproduced again and something being reborn. He suspected it to be Jenova, or may be even Sephiroth or another Sephiroth, if you know what I mean."

"Huh! Mako, Jenova, and Sephiroth. And headquarters; stationed? Are you teaming up or something with that Valentine, who was part of that group AVALANCHE to fight another psychotic delusional something? And the 'Turks' still exist?"

"Well, yeah, to all of that. Honestly, we really have nothing to do. Reeve, Rude, and I are the only ones left, since the others are very dead, as you well know. Besides that, the Turks still exist, especially now that I've found you. And you obviously did not waste any time building yourself an industrial empire!" Reno said, looking around his spacious office with big glass windows overlooking the majority of the new Junon, which is now somewhat like Midgar. All because of Rufus Shinra, Reno mused.

"What makes you think that I want to be part of all that?" Rufus asked facing him and folding his arms, giving Reno a mocking face.

After a short moment with Reno thinking about telling or not telling Rufus about Strife, he decided to go with the former.

"Well, Valentine suspects Strife is behind all that – the Mako, Jenova,... I mean he disappeared without a trace about eight years ago. And nothing was heard from him since that. And as Valentine had said, the aura of the Mt. Nibel changed from the nothingness to something unexplainable, a month after. It was strange. I felt it myself. It was different. Creeped me out."

"Strife, huh?" Rufus flicked back his hair, "Getting himself into trouble again? And if he IS the one behind the 'strangeness' in Mt. Nibel, what would be his purpose? He grated his ass on Sephiroth's Masamune just to stop him and that freaky 'mother' of is. What's up with reviving them once again?

"Uh... I never really heard much of the details, Sir. I was... Well... I was..."

"Uh-huh..." Rufus mocked him and shook his head, "Figures."

Rufus sat down on his regal chair, grabbed his cellular phone, and barked orders to the person on the other line. After the these and those to do to be done in his absence, he ordered a helicopter in fifteen minutes, no more, absolutely less.

Reno smirked.

"Alright. We get there in about thirty minutes. Get up," Rufus ordered. Rufus orders a lot of people around.

They were about to get out of the office when Rufus asked, "How'd you find me, anyway?"

Reno grinned, "I just had the intuition to check out a corporation called 'ShinCorp'. Impossible, but you're here!"

"Yeah..." came an unemotional reply.

- End of Chapter -


	3. Chapter 2: Crash

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 and all that's associated with it are not mine but Squaresoft's. And the story is originally from my friend Agrias.

**CHAPTER 2**

**Crash**

"Rios! Get down here this instant! You're going to be late for school again!" his dear mother shouted for the tenth time early in the morning. The seven year old boy only groaned and pulled his pillow to cover his face. He mumbled something incoherent and drifted back to sleep.

"Rios! Don't make me go up there!"

Another groan. He turned on his stomach and covered his head with his pillow.

"Rios!"

Alright, alright! Rios grumbled and threw his pillow somewhere. He sat up, opened his eyes and scanned his room.

Yep, same room, he thought and then another shout, "Rios! For the last time!"

"Mom! I'm awake! Stop that already! We have neighbors, you know," Rios said loud enough for Tifa to hear, but respectful enough not to hurt his mother's feelings. He finally stood up and felt the room sway. He shook the sleep from his head and proceeded into the bathroom that connected his room with his mother's.

The moment he entered the rather small bathroom, he frowned at himself as he faced the mirror. He grabbed a comb and started combing his hair vigorously. He smiled when his hair stuck to the sides of his head but then again, his hair shook and reinstated themselves into that spiked look, making Rios frown and sigh heavily.

Damn it all! They always stick out like freaking spikes on a maul! Oh well... Rios thought and proceeded to bathe himself. He should control his language, though. It's not proper for a kid his age to be saying those things older people love to say.

In the kitchen, Tifa was busy busying herself with nothing. She was walking around the place, picking up the broom then putting it up against the wall, and then picking it up again. She was so restless this morning. She seemed to can not figure out what she was supposed to do. It was as if she was anticipating something, waiting for something to happen. But what?

She walked over to the couch and smiled down at her sleeping ninja friend who was dribbling saliva out from her open mouth. Good thing she brought her own pillow, Tifa thought grinning at that. She wanted to wake Yuffie up, but then again, Yuffie would wake by herself. Tifa had been shouting to wake up Rios, but all that noise did not earn so much as a twitch from Yuffie.

Tifa sighed as her mind started to wander off to the old times. Yes, the old times. The action, the adventure, the emotion, the exhilarating feeling of saving the planet and all the people in it, and the pain that goes along with it. She remembered her friends who were there together in happy times and times when everything seemed to be devoid of hope. The kind and beautiful people whom they met in their travels, as well as the not-so-beautiful selfish people who only looked out for themselves. Then there was Barret's love for Marlene, Cid's dirty mouth, Red XIII's family, Reeve's Cait Sith, Vincent's mystery, Yuffie's obsession... And there was Aeris' death and Clou...

"Hey mom, what's for breakfast?" her thoughts were interrupted by the cheerful good-morning greeting from her son.

Tifa smiled gently as she watched the boy saunter across the living room towards her. He was wearing his school uniform and on his back was his two-year-old backpack that looked as new as the moment they bought it from a store in Rocket Town.

He was smiling back at her, pleased at the wonderful sight of his mother. But his smile faded when he turned his head and saw his aunt Yuffie sleeping on the couch with her mouth open as if inviting flies to live in it, and worse, she was salivating all over the couch.

"Jeesh! She could have told me she had nowhere to sleep but that couch! I could have slept there instead with her in my room!" Rios said.

Tifa grinned and said, "Well, she insisted she sleep on the couch. She said rooms give her the creeps, and guess what, I have exactly no idea why!" Tifa ushered her son into the dining table where his generous breakfast was waiting.

After the satisfying meal, Rios kissed his mother goodbye, waved at Yuffie's disgusting sleeping form, and left for school.

Tifa sighed as she watched her son go, not noticing that Yuffie had gotten up and sneakingly walked up behind her watching Rios as well.

"Wow!" Yuffie suddenly exclaimed, making Tifa jump and glare at her. Yuffie grinned at her sheepishly and proceeded, "He's growing up too fast, doncha think so Teef?"

Tifa eased her look at Yuffie and turned to watch Rios as he faded into the distance. "Yeah... he is growing up too fast. It's as if it was only yesterday that I had him in my arms as he was squirming to get a better look at me and a better chance to grab my hair so he had something interesting to do such like pulling on it and making me say 'ouch!' and then he would smile that toothless smile and then..." Tifa sighed. "And then now, he looks like Cloud! It would be a matter of time until he'll become as tall as his father."

Then Tifa paused as if pondering on something.

"Mako, huh?" Yuffie asked.

"Probably," Tifa replied with a sad look in her eyes, and then shook her head. "He's taller than kids his age, and he's a lot stronger. And then there are his eyes. They're getting more intense as days go by. And there's this feeling that something is going to happen, Yuffie."

Yuffie looked at her friend gently. She held Tifa's hand and squeezed assuringly.

"Don't worry, Teef. Everything will be fine."

--- --- --- --- ---

"So, boss... how did you end up in Junon?" Reno asked as he munched on some of the food Rufus had stored in his sleek white private plane.

"I don't like nosy people," Rufus replied while looking into some papers his secretary gave him before he left his office in Junon.

"Yeah, I know, but how exactly did you get here? I mean, we all practically saw your building blow up in Midgar, and we were practically sure you were dead, with much mourning in our hearts of course. And now, you're here heading a large industrial empire that transformed that godforsaken Junon into something like Midgar Sector 1, but much better!" Reno asked again.

"Have you no other things to do? Can't you see I'm busy?" Rufus said without looking up at Reno.

"So... did you get a girlfriend already? I mean, how old are you now anyway? 30? 28?"

"Please do shut up."

"Or was it 27?"

"Reno..."

"Do you have a girlfriend? Or a wife?"

"Shut up."

"Oh ok..." Reno looked around Rufus' private plane and when he saw that nothing's out of the ordinary except for the fact that the whole white over-alls in the interior of the plane were driving him to crazed blindness, he stood up from his chair and picked up a wine glass from the bar.

"How in the world did you ever start this empire thing anyway? Were your old back accounts active? Which reminds me, there weren't, were they? Reeve tried to gain access to the banks that held your investments, but well... the banks just don't exist anymore, so that would probably mean that's the end of your money... But you managed to lift Junon to glory!" Reno paused. "What a success story!"

Reno turned to Rufus to see what his boss has to say about what he said. He was rewarded by the nonchalance of the blonde man. Reno shrugged and walked over to the window. He looked down at the passing small and large islands as the plane flew over them. He watched ships shift their sails to gain more wind power. He watched bare grasslands stretch into forests by the distance. He watched small villages waking up as people the size of aphids go on their daily routines. He watched chocobos running freely across the lands with something looking like a man running after one trying to capture it.

Reno sighed. Eight years. Eight long years since the fall of Sephiroth and Shinra. If everything did not happen – Cloud and his comrades saving the world and all – would all of these things ever possible? Perhaps not. Perhaps so. Who knows? Someone could have stopped Sephiroth one way or another, but then again, Strife and AVALANCHE were the ones brave enough to do it. The world seemed alright then, but then not much really happened after that. Yeah, the heroes were celebrated much after the incident, but now, everything seemed ordinary – as if nothing really happened. Sephiroth was gone. End of story.

Reno shuddered.

Mt. Nibel. What was up there? He could tell something was wrong with those mountains. Valentine was right about that. The Turks, including him, had gone to the place prior to the defeat of Sephiroth and the feeling that he had was that Mt. Nibel was _dead_. But when they visited the place most recently, the mountains seemed to exude some energy that left them confused. The air changed too. It was one hell of a scary place. Was it haunted or something?

"What the..." Rufus suddenly said that interrupted Reno's wandering thoughts. Reno was too engrossed in thinking about Mt. Nibel that he didn't notice the slight rumbling of the plane. It was only when Rufus spoke up and him losing his balance that he snapped back to reality and heard an alarm go off. Suddenly, the door of the plane leading outside flew open and a very large ugly creature stuck its head inside, eyeing Rufus and Reno. It had glowing red eyes, three horns, and three rows of sharp teeth. It started bellowing and scratching the floor of the plane as if trying to get a firm grip with its huge clawed paws.

"What in the world!" Reno exclaimed as the monster went further inside the plane. He was frozen on the spot, but turned to the clicking sound of a gun being loaded. He turned to Rufus and found him calmly raising his double barreled shotgun at the creature, aiming without hesitation, pulled the trigger. His bullet pierced the creature's skin which made it shriek loudly making Reno cover his ears. The shot should've dislodged the monster from its hold on the plane, but it only toughened its resolve to finish what it had started. Its red eyes started glowering intensely, and its roar getting louder. Rufus cocked his shotgun once again and aimed at the monster. But before his could pull the trigger, a strong rumble made him lose his balance and fall. The monster, now with its torso fully inside the plane, made a move to raise its claws against Rufus. Reno snapped out of his stupor and pulled out his own shotgun. He blasted it against the monster making it shriek with pain, but the creature still manage to hit Rufus with its enormous claws. Rufus tried to keep the pain inside so that the only sound that escaped from him was a disgrunted groan. He immediately grabbed his shotgun and shot at the creature which was still busy dealing with the damage inflicted by Reno, not minding that his insides were in the danger or falling off because of the deep wounds on his torso. His bullet hit the monster at its right eye making it scream louder.

Reno shot at it once again and again until it retreated at the door. One last shot by Rufus sent it falling off from the plane.

The ordeal left the duo breathing deeply and sharply, but before they could even think that the threat was over, something heavy went atop the plane. A loud roar was heard before the roof of the plane started caving in with the pounding of the monster on it.

"Dammnit!!!" Rufus exclaimed as he shot at the roof, but the monster kept pounding on it. He then noticed that Reno was not doing something about it. He turned his attention to his companion and found him looking outside the window of the plane.

"Hey you! What are you doing?!" Rufus cried but Reno just kept looking outside and then in a slightly audible whisper, he said, "Rufus..." and then he pointed at that something he was looking at.

Rufus followed where Reno was pointing at and found out that the plane was on the verge of crashing against the mountains of Nibelheim.

About fifteen seconds after, a loud crash shook the northern side of Mt. Nibel.

But it was too far away that no body in the town, which was located on the other side of the mountains where the plane crashed, heard nor even felt it.

Nobody, except for one.

- End of Chapter -

--------------------------------------------------

A/N

Hey guys! Thanks a bunch for the reviews! And guess what, I decided to get on with the story! I edited some parts of Chapters 1 and 2. I know Agrias would not mind... Anyway, now is not the time to make Rufus and Tifa meet, as you well know if you read the chapter. But they will in the next, if I decide Rufus will not die, that is. I tried to make the characters act the same as Agrias made them act originally. I hope I'm not messing it up. Actually, I have no idea where this story is headed and Agrias had not told me what her plans for this fic are so please bear with me if something is not quite right...

Constructive criticisms are welcome, but no flames please... I have blood type A, so I'm a bit on the sensitive side...

Anyway, please do leave a review of the chapter. It would be much appreciated to know how the readers feel about this...

Thanks!!! :)

Valen Locke


	4. Chapter 3: Blood Red

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 and all that's associated with it are not mine but Squaresoft's.

Hi! You may be wondering why this is still chapter 3... but actually this is a NEW chapter. Please read my note in the end of the former chapter 1 (which is now the prologue) for more information. Sorry for the inconvenience. And thanks for stopping by...

**CHAPTER 3**

**Blood Red**

"Hey Rios! Wake up!" a hushed voice of a young girl called out. "Wake up before he sees you!"

Rios' head suddenly shot up from his arms, breathing heavily, making enough movement to make his teacher notice him from the front of the classroom.

"Ah... Nice of you join us, Mr. Lockheart," Reeve said smiling at him sardonically, "if you may, solve this problem on the board." All heads in the classroom turned to him, except for the girl beside him who has her face covered by her puny little hands.

Reeve stretched his arm in Rios' direction with a piece of chalk in hand, urging the boy to get up from his chair and go to him.

_Great. Just great._ Rios thought to himself as he got up and walked towards his teacher. He ignored everyone's stares as he always did every time he gets caught sleeping in class and gets called to answer some darn problem on the board.

"Go Strife, I mean Lockheart." an evil-looking boy sneered at him. Rios ignored him as well.

He grabbed the chalk from Reeve's outstretched hand and walked over to the board. He stared at it for about three seconds, smiled evilly, and then started writing something. After he was done, every jaw in class dropped and every eye bulged at what he wrote. He grinned and handed Reeve back the chalk. He returned to his seat and sat down; a very satisfied look adorned his young face.

The only persons not surprised at what the boy of five did were his friends Alaina who was seated beside him, Mallori who was snoring like a pig beside Alaina, and Reeve himself. After checking Rios' answer on the board, Reeve turned to Rios and smiled approvingly.

"Excellent, Mr. Lockheart," he said.

A few seconds after which, the bell rang. "Recess!" Mallori, like a chubby little kid he was, woke up and announced as he jumped from his chair. He ran towards the door as all the other kids did. Alaina looked at Rios and sensing the boy has something on his mind, she said, "Catch up with us, okay, Rios?" When Rios nodded, she followed the others out.

Reeve erased the writings on the board. When he was finished, he turned and found a pair of big blood red eyes looking up at him.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Lockheart?" he asked the blonde boy.

"What was that for, Mr. Reeve?" Rios replied. "I know that problem you asked me to answer was not part of our lesson. Our lesson's about addition and you gave me a complex organochemistry problem. Why?"

"I just figured out that you'd be bored with addition, since you were soundly sleeping in your chair so I gave you something that you can relate to. And I must admit, you're getting better everyday, especially for a kid your age," Reeve said smiling.

Rios glared up at him, "I looked like a freak! No other five-year-old understood what I just wrote on the board!"

"Would you rather I let you answer some boring math equation?"

A pause.

"No," Rios answered, another pause and then, "but don't do that again." With that, he left the room.

And all the while, Reeve was smiling.

--- --- --- --- ---

"Hey Rios! Where are you going?" Alaina called out.

Rios ignored her as he grabbed his stuff from the bag rack and walked towards the door of the school house.

"Hey!" Alaina called out again.

"Yeah Strife, I mean Lockheart. Where are you going?" the evil-looking boy asked him with a sneer on his face. Rios ignored him again.

"Shut up, Will," Alaina said. "Come on, Mal, let's go!"

"Huh?" Mallori looked up from his food and stared at Alaina. "Oh okay. Coming!" He walked right passed Will and both he and Alaina grabbed their stuff. They followed Rios out the door.

At some distance from the school house, they caught up with Rios.

"Hey Rios! What's up? Where are we going?" Alaina asked when she was walking right beside her friend.

"What? What do you mean 'we'?" Rios turned to her, still walking. "You two should go back. I have something important to do."

"Important?" Then Alaina paused to ponder on that, "Oh, you mean dangerous, huh? That's okay! I brought my daggers with me. So 'dangerous' wouldn't be a problem!"

"Yeah... And I brought my uh... hammer," Mallori added.

Rios stopped, so did the others. "Look, guys. I really have something to do and yes, it's going to be dangerous. Actually, I don't know yet where exactly I'm going. I just felt something funny a while ago, so I'm going to check it out."

"Really? Wow! Adventure! We'll go with you!" Alaina announced. "Besides, a walk on the mountains would be boring if you're alone!"

"Mountains? How'd you know I was headed for the mountains?" Rios asked.

"'Coz this trail we're following is headed to the mountains, you dope," Alaina grinned then started walking. Mallori followed her, leaving Rios behind.

_Oh... Why didn't I think of that?_ Rios thought. He then followed them.

After a while of silently walking, the group finally reached the bridge.

"So Rios... What's on the mountains?" Alaina asked.

"I dunno. Something. But I can't figure out what," Rios replied.

"Uh-huh. You were moaning something a while ago," Alaina said and when Rios looked at her in a funny way, she continued, "A while ago. Before you woke up and answered Mr. Reeve's problem. You were moaning something. Something like 'nooo!!' and 'look ooouuut!" as she was trying to enact what Rios was doing in his sleep earlier. Rios grinned at her because she looked silly.

"Really, Rios. You were, so stop laughing at me!" Alaina turned a bright red.

"Hey, Lain's blushing!" Mallori announced and laughed at her. After a while, all three of them were laughing.

--- --- --- --- ---

"Rufus!!!" Reno shouted in his ear, which made Rufus twitch and punch Reno right in the jaw and sent him flying.

"Ouch! What d'ya do that for?" Reno exclaimed, after gaining consciousness at what just happened and rubbing his jaw, "whoa, I think my mandibles are broken. In addition to the many things that I broke when we crashed."

"Why'd you shout in my ear, you dimwit! I'm not deaf!" Rufus said, trying his best to sit up among the rubble Reno must have pulled him from.

"I know. You're only a little bit unconscious a while ago," Reno replied sarcastically. Rufus glared at him, so he gave a silly apologizing look. He then began to brush the dirt and grime from his suit, but to no avail. _Great. I'm going to pay loads to get this cleaned!_

Rufus continued to pull himself to a sitting position until pain shot up from his limbs and torso that made him shout.

"Hey, easy there, Prez," Reno immediately went to him to assist him.

"Leave me be," Rufus ordered. Reno let go of him and when blood started to spurt from his open abdomen, he panicked.

"Geez, Prez! You're bleeding!" Reno pulled out his blazer and started wrapping Rufus torso with it, while Rufus was groaning from the pain of it. _There goes loads of paying to do._ Then Reno helped him up. He threw Rufus' left arm over his own and noticed that every inch of the front of Rufus' white blazer was soaked with blood. Funny, he didn't notice them before. He must've mistaken them for dirt, since dirt seemed to cover them everywhere.

While Reno was pondering over why he didn't notice Rufus' bloody situation before, Rufus was doing his best not to faint with all the blood he had lost and the pain that was running all over his battered body.

_Huh, reminds me of the old days,_ Rufus mused thinking of that time when he was brought to Mideel barely alive.

"Come on, Prez. We'd better get you to town immediately. You can't hold out much longer," Reno said gritting his teeth since Rufus was heavier than he thought.

--- --- --- --- ---

"Are we there yet?" Mallori asked for almost the hundredth time.

"No," Alaina replied for almost the hundredth time as well.

"Hey guys, I think we'd better rest up here before we go any further," Rios said referring to the clearing the group reached so far.

"Finally!" Mallori said happily as he set down his bag and took something out from it.

"If you're so hungry, why didn't you eat along the way?" Alaina asked him, but Mallori just ignored her and continued chomping on his sandwich happily. "Rios?"

Rios was staring out on the mountains, as if searching for something that would catch his attention, something that would tell him that his vision earlier had not been only a dream. Rios looked at the heavily clouded sky. It was almost noon, but the Nibelheim mountains looked darker than usual. He knew because his friends and he usually go up here on weekends to hunt some monsters for money.

"Hey guys, come on. We gotta go." Rios said a few moments later.

"What? But I sat here for less than five minutes!" Mallori complained.

"We better go now or else, we may end up going home later than the usual going-home-from-school-time and our parents may wonder where we go all the time, and they would find out that we go up here, then we'll get busted and then..."

"Alright, alright. I'm up. Let's go," Mallori said after Rios' rather confusing but well, convincing statement.

They were walking silently along the way, until Rios noticed something strange in the distance. A slight frown appeared on his face as he made out something of a plane, or rather the remains of it, on the side of a mountain. It was way too far away, but then again, Rios had visual abilities far better than ordinary people.

"I see something," he said.

"What? What?!" Alaina asked excitedly.

"I'm not sure, but it seems that an airplane crashed somewhere over there. I can see parts of it and they're still... uh... fresh." Rios added.

"Whoa... you can see that?" Mallori asked him, his eyes wide. Rios only shrugged and motioned for them to go on.

--- --- --- --- ---

"Urgh!" Reno groaned dragging Rufus along with him. It seemed as if Rufus had fainted. He hadn't helped in dragging his own body.

_Okay, you can do it._ Reno told himself as he gave another pull, but unfortunately he tripped and let go of Rufus. Both of them landed with a loud thump on the ground sending dirt to fly over them. Reno was breathing heavily, while Rufus raised his head scanning the area as if sensing something amiss.

"Sorry about that, boss. You're heavier than I thought," Reno said, still breathing heavily. He stood up and motioned to help Rufus up.

"Come on now," he said, groaning as he placed Rufus' weight on him again, and making such a fuss of it to earn a "Sshh!" from Rufus.

"What?" Reno asked in a hushed voice.

"Ssshh. I think I heard something," Rufus said.

"...... a monster?"

"I don't know. Just be quiet. And stop that wussy sound. It's driving me nuts."

After a moment of silence between them, pain shot up once again onto Rufus' torso making him grunt. His vision blurred because of the pain. And then he saw something. Something yellow. Familiar... He squinted his eyes to clear up his vision, but darkness took over him. The pain was excruciating, but before he finally gave up to the it, he took one last look and uttered one single word that shook his whole person.

"Strife..."

"What?" Reno asked him, and seeing his boss had fainted, Reno looked at the last thing Rufus saw before he did.

"What the..."Reno said in a bare whisper. He was stunned. He was seeing Cloud Strife walking towards them.

--- --- --- --- ---

Tifa was mixing drinks for a young couple who wanted the special "Drink of the Day" that really was only lemonade mixed with water, strawberry ice cream, and prunes – no alcohol. She thought that it was too early for them to get drunk, or for anyone to get drunk for that matter..

"Here you go," she said happily while handing the giggling couple their drinks.

_Okay... they're going to feel as if they're getting drunk by the looks of things. Kids_, Tifa thought grinning. She looked at them and felt sadness. Her eyes told it all. But she shook her head and brushed the feeling aside. She was not going through that again.

"Uh... Teef!" a worried voice came up at some distance beside her. She turned to it. It was Yuffie. And a very silly-looking Yuffie. She just came through the door from the store room. On her arms were several beer mugs stacked atop each other and she was somewhat dancing to keep her balance and the mugs from falling. "Where do these go?!"

Tifa hurriedly helped her with them and placed them under the counter. After the last had been taken care of, Yuffie gave her a shy smile. "Sorry about that. I should've carried them one by one, but then again... they were too darn MANY!" With that, she quickly returned from where she came from. About a minute or so, Tifa heard a loud crash inside the store room.

"Hey Leon!" she called out to an olive-brown-haired young man of fifteen who was cleaning up tables near the door. "Could you please take in charge here? I'm going to check out what that crash was." When Leon nodded, Tifa went directly through the door to the store room.

"Yuffie! What happened?" She exclaimed. Yuffie had been trying to carry loads of beer mugs again, but unfortunately, she let go of them and each and every one of them ended broken shards on the floor. She was now staring wide eyed at something. Tifa followed her line of vision and found three pairs of wide eyes looking up at her. The first pair was blue, the next were brown, and the third one was red.

"Mallori, Alaina, Rios!" Tifa shrieked, although calmer than it sounds. "What are you guys doing here?! Why aren't you at school?" Then she turned to Yuffie. "And why were you so surprised? It was only them."

Yuffie's lips began to tremble as if beginning to cry, then pointed at the three kids. "There's something there," she said in a whisper.

"What?" Tifa turned to the three kids. She found them smiling at her, teeth and all. Their hands were tied behind their backs and they were standing so close to each other that made Tifa think that they were hiding something behind them.

"Okay, guys. What are you up to?" Tifa asked in an authorative way. Mallori, Alaina, and Rios kept smiling at her.

"Wit di wi di niw?" Mallori asked Alaina through clenched teeth since he was still showing them off to Tifa.

"I din't niw. Jist bi quiit," Alaina replied.

Tifa was frowning now, her arms crossed just below her bosom, and her right heel was thumping the ground.

After a while, Rios finally gave in. His cheek muscles hurt.

"Alright, alright," Rios began, "Mom, I want your word not to rant and rave when I show you this."

Tifa continued to frown at him, not saying a thing.

"Shi's nit lis'ning..." Alaina said.

"Mom!"

"Okay! Rios, what have you gotten yourse..." Tifa was cut off short when Mallori, Alaina, and Rios suddenly stepped aside revealing two very familiar people behind them. The other was grinning stupidly at her, while the other one was unconscious... and bleeding!!!

Tifa was left tongue-tied to say anything.

"Heyyah Lockheart," the first one said, "Long time, no see, eh?"

- End of Chapter -

--------------------------------------------------

A/N

I finished another chapter! And if you noticed, I made things a bit fast. I realized I was really going slow... So tah dah! Tifa meets Reno and sleeping Rufus!

Thanks to those who reviewed and also those who didn't but read the story! Hope you'll drop something next time, but no flames please! Fanfiction is a site for showing your creative ideas through writing and not getting flamed for it! :)

Please click that cute little button on the lower left side of the screen if you don't mind and tell me what you think!

I'll be making another fic soon I guess since I finished 1/10 of my sampling for my thesis. I think it will be VinxTif, but I'm not sure... RufxTif anyone? Or something else? No Aeris please 'coz we're not exactly friends... Sorry! (Why does her name change, anyway? It was Aeris in FF7 and Aerith in Kingdom Hearts... and Aerith in Advent Children... Why?!)

Take care! :)

Valen Locke


	5. Chapter 4: Cloud and Rios

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 and all that's associated with it are not mine but Squaresoft's.

**CHAPTER 4**

**Cloud and Rios**

He could not see a thing.

He tried to open his eyes wider, but it seemed that everything had been covered in darkness. He moved his legs. He could tell that he was walking, but he could not feel the ground under him. _Where am I?_ He asked against the pitch black darkness that surrounded him. Then he moved his legs faster. He tried to run somewhere... anywhere! But nothing! He stopped moving, trying to concentrate on what was happening to him, to feel anything in the seamless void.

_Nothing. No movement. No sound. No air. Nothing. He couldn't even feel or hear his own heart beat!_ He tried to speak, but it seemed that how much he tried to shout, he could not hear his voice. Then he panicked. He started to run again... towards wherever his legs would take him. _What's happening to me? Why can't I feel anything?!_

"Am I dead?!" he exclaimed at the top of his lungs. Then he heard it. His voice! He tried to shout again. But his shout was cut short when he felt excruciating pain sting his chest. "Dammit!" he shouted closing his eyes and flailing his arms as if trying to get hold onto something. Then he felt them. Soft yet firm. Cool. He bit his hand through them, until he heard another sound. A woman's gasp.

_What the...?_ He tried to open his eyes again, hoping that he can see something.

And he did.

_Dammit. I'm dead. Finally._

--- --- --- --- ---

"Mom, is he alright?" Rios asked, after squirming over the couch where he was pleasantly nestled before, when Tifa emerged from his room carrying a large glass bowl that was now filled with reddish water. His mom has been attending that blood-soaked man since they got home. And she had been wearing that somewhat surprised-angry countenance whenever she came out of his room, where they placed the man so he could rest.

"I think so," Tifa replied, pouring the blood-mixed water down the sink. She sighed and looked as if she was thinking deeply about something.

"What's wrong?" her son asked. When Tifa didn't answer because she was so engrossed with whatever's going on with her mind, Rios repeated the question again.

Tifa shook her head and gave her son a silly smile. "Oh, no. It's nothing," Tifa managed to say. "He just had a nightmare, that's all. Must be the fever." Then she quickly washed the bowl, poured warm water into it again, and began to walk towards Rios' room, "I'll just finish up cleaning his wounds. He opened them a while ago when he woke up screaming." With that, Tifa disappeared inside the room.

Rios shrugged at that, a contemplative frown creased his forehead.

--- --- --- --- ---

The blonde man mumbled something again. Well, that's what he did every hour for the past three days when he was asleep, except the time when Tifa pulled him to sit up and drink some soup and him complaining about it, of course. His fever had subsided yesterday when he was thrashing about, shouting that he was dead or something. Poor guy.

"Hey! Room service!" he suddenly shouted.

_Did he just say, "room service"?_

"I'm hungry! What's the hell's wrong with this place! You should have more concern about your customers. Or have you mistaken me for some ordinary customer, eh? I am Wraith Shin, President of ShinCorp Group of Companies, I'll have you know!" He mumbled with his eyes partially open.

_What's the matter with him?! He's delirious!_

"You shouldn't let him get to you, you know," another voice joined in as Rufus, or rather Wraith as he had claimed himself to be, continued to mumble some incoherent words. Tifa turned to him and came face to face with sneering intense green eyes. "Hey Lockheart. How's he been?"

"Reno," it wasn't a surprised statement, it was rather an annoyed one, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh. Just checking up on the boss, that's all. I see he's getting better everyday. He's beginning to order people about," Reno replied with a knowing smirk on his lips.

"Yeah," Tifa said turning to Rufus, who was beginning to drift off to sleep. "So... Is the mansion ready for him, yet? I have a job, too, you know. I can't just stay here all day taking care of him."

"Nope," he said simply. Then he let out an amused sigh. Tifa frowned, "What?"

"Nothing. Well, I'll go now. I have something else to do in the mansion. See you soon, Lockheart. Say hi to Rios for me," Reno then left the room.

_Great. I wonder how long he'll recover._ Then she heard him mumble again. She arched her brow and went into the kitchen to get something for him to sip on – a bottle of insecticide, maybe, Tifa grinned sardonically.

"Hey... Hey!!" Rufus cried out to her, "Hey, don't leave me! You're always leaving me! Why do you keep on leaving me? Do I have a sign on my forehead that says 'Leave me'?!"

Tifa cast him a surprised sideways look at what he had just said. When she faced him, she saw looking straight at her with those tired, dull blue eyes. Just as she stared at them, she felt an uncomfortable feeling of pity. _Must've been awful ... The things he went through._ Tifa walked over to him and raised her small hand against his forehead to see if he was having a fever again. The moment she did, Rufus closed his eyes and sighed. In a matter of seconds with Tifa just standing there with her hand on his forehead, he began to drift off to sleep.

Making sure that he won't wake up again and order her about, Tifa removed her hand from his forehead and walked out from the room. As she closed the door behind her, she remembered what Rufus had been crying out earlier, and remembered how vulnerable and helpless it sounded. _Rufus Shinra? Vulnerable and helpless? Well, he wasn't so vulnerable and helpless when he was such a jerk six years ago!_ When she emerged from the room, a pair of ruby eyes met hers.

"Well?" Rios asked her.

"Well, what?" Tifa replied.

"Well, what's up? With him, I mean. How's the fever? I heard him shouting a while ago."

"Oh. Oh, it was nothing. He just thought he's back in his rich boy life that he was trying to bribe me to cook him some lobster themidor, heh,"

Rios frowned at her, not believing her, "Well, can I go see him?

It was Tifa's turn to frown at him, "......? Well, ok..." Then Rios bounded off the couch and bounced towards the room where Rufus slept.

"Just don't go near him. His grouchiness is contagious!" Tifa added. Rios only chuckled.

--- --- --- --- ---

He was dreaming of mountains lush with trees and small pools of clear blue water. He was standing on the edge of a cliff looking over them, the sun warming up his face and his cold body. He couldn't understand it, though. The last time he dreamt, it was dark and painful. Now, it was... stupid!!!

Rufus groaned annoyingly and opened his eyes, with much effort of course.

A pair of big ruby eyes greeted him. And they were staring at him intensely. It was rather annoying, really. Worse, the face that contained those eyes was very near his own. If the situation were a horror movie, he'd have leapt up and screamed. Not that he ever did that before though.

_It's that red-eyed woman again_, he thought. Then the face started unnecessarily breathing heavily against his face, obviously trying to annoy him. _What in the...?!_ He squinted and frowned. _What's the matter with his woman? Didn't she know... it was rude to... BREATHE... on someone else's FACE?!_

"Do you think he's dead?" Someone suddenly said in a small, hushed voice. _Huh? _Rufus frowned again and tried to move his head so that he could see where the voice came from. When he tried to move is neck though, pain coursed through his head, making him see black dots. He groaned again.

"He's breathing, stupid," a deep child's voice joined in, obviously belonging to someone who's rather chubby.

"Hey! I'm not stupid, stupid!" The earlier voice complained. _A girl... a whiny little girl..._

"Hey, sshh!" A third voice hushed them both carelessly, sending another dose of BREATH on Rufus' face. "I think he's waking up."

_A boy? Red eyes? What the...?_

"Really?!" the little girl said excitedly and bounced on the bed making it shake, which sent Rufus' head spinning.

_Yep, I'm waking up, you little brats! And once I get up, I'll make sure you regret disturbing me!!_

"Hey yah!" the boy with red eyes shouted in his ear. Rufus gritted his teeth to keep himself from hurting the hellion for trying to punch a hole onto his eardrums.

"Uh... Rios... I think you overdid it," the little girl commented. "I think he's angry."

_You don't know the half of it, little whiny girl. When I get my hands on this friend of yours, this... Rios... I'll make sure he regrets having been born!_

Rufus tried to shout at them, but he seemed to can't find his voice. He groaned instead and tried to kick them off the bed. Well, that failed as well, because he couldn't feel his legs at all. They were numb. He couldn't even move them an inch! He then noticed the chubby kid was sitting on them.

_STUPID KIDS!!!_

Then he heard the door open.

"What are you guys doing?" Another voice, obviously belonging to an older person joined in. It was that woman. "Come on, get off him. He's sick!"

"And dying?" the little girl added, rather enthusiastically.

"Yes, Lainey. So you guys need to leave him alone. He needs his rest, so he can get out of here in no time!" the woman said, emphasizing the part when he has to get out of there.

_Get out of here?! The nerve!!_

"Okay, Aunt Tifa!" the little girl said and jumped from the bed, making it shake again and his head spinning. Rufus had to grit his teeth again.

_Wait a minute... Tifa... Tifa...? Where have I heard that name before? Tifa... ... ... _

His thoughts were interrupted when Rios jumped off the bed himself, purposely shaking the bed knowing that it annoyed the older man very much. Then he snickered. _Little disrespectful brat._ _Huh? He looks familiar._

Rios trotted towards Tifa and smiled up at her, "He'll be alright, mom. He just needed a little annoyance." Then the boy, _Rios probably_, laughed. _Sadistic little disrespectful brat._

_Did he just say 'mom'? That woman has a son? Tifa... I don't..._

Then Rufus suddenly grunted out loud clutching his head. That surprised Tifa and the kids that they went running towards the bed and looked into Rufus, who was rolling and messing up the already messed up bed.

"Aaarrgh!" Rufus exclaimed. _Dammit, what is this?! Why does it hurt so much?! _

"What's happening to him?" Amongst the pain that seemed to drain the energy from him, he heard 'Lainey' ask with much concern in her voice, "We didn't do that when we shook the bed, did we? Aunt Tifa?"

But Tifa had already left the room to pick up her PMS. She started dialing Vincent's number.

After a while and there was no Vincent who answered the line, Tifa threw her PMS impatiently as another loud grunt broke out from Rufus' room. _What's going on with him?!_

When Tifa entered the room, Alaina had tears running down her face and Rios had a guilty, shocked look on his. Mallori, on the other hand, was crouched down at the corner just staring at the moaning man on the bed, wide-eyed. Tifa ran over to Rufus and reached out to catch his hands with hers. The moment she began to lean towards Rufus, her arms stretched out before her, Rufus grabbed her by the shoulders, his finger biting against her tender skin. He was gritting his teeth because of the pain and almost suddenly as he had shouted before, he passed out.

Tifa disentangled his hands away from her arms and wiped the sweat that was now soaking up his face. She could hear Alaina's loud crying at the background, but it seemed too far away. She was shocked at what happened more than she could ever admit. She shook her head clear and turned to the kids who were gathered behind her.

"Alright," she croaked, "that's enough for now. Mallori, Alaina, you guys go home now. Your parents are probably waiting for you. Rios, please show them home." The three could only nod.

Tifa then turned to the sleeping Rufus when Rios shut the door closed behind him. She sat down on the side of the bed and sighed. Rufus sighed too. _Well, you rest now, Rufus. I don't know what's wrong with you, but let's just hope that it's only because of your fever... Not that I care, anyways._

Tifa brushed her bangs from her face and stood up. She straightened up the messed up sheets around Rufus and tucked him properly to bed. After all is done, she walked towards the door, gave one last concerning look at the sleeping man, and silently closed the door behind her.

--- --- --- --- ---

It was exactly 2:30 in the morning when Rios got up from his makeshift bed in Tifa's room and silently tiptoed out of the room. He opened the door with as little sound as he closed it behind him. Amongst the darkness and only the light of the street lamp outside their home illuminating his way, he made it into the door of his room, where, on the other side, that man was sleeping. He actually didn't know what made him get up and do this little escapade in this ungodly hour of the morning, but there was something strange about that man, the red-haired man named Reno, called Rufus. He wasn't certain what but something made him want to know more about him since that time in the day when he was staring onto the older man's face.

He was familiar, in some sort of way. _But how is he familiar?_

Rios quietly opened the door to his room and took a peak inside. _Good, he's sleeping_, he thought. He could hear Rufus' soft snores from where he was standing. He walked towards the bed, trying his best not to stumble along the way and wake the older man up. When he reached the side of the bed, the side where Rufus was facing, Rios started staring at him. He observed him as if he was some kind of a guinea pig undergoing weird transformations.

_Who are you?_ _Do I know you? Why are you familiar to me? Do you know me?_

Many questions started to plague Rios as he continued to stare at Rufus' sleeping face. Then he noticed a faint scar that ran from the left side of Rufus' face behind his ear down to the junction between his head and neck. _Must've been an old scar_. Then Rios began to lean closer. He supported himself against his small arms as went lower.

Then he smelled it. It reeked of something quite familiar. And it wasn't the odor that came from the fact that Rufus hadn't had a full bath since he arrived. The smell sent a series of images flashing before Rios eyes until he became overwhelmed by them. All of them were unfamiliar, as he had not seen them nor experienced them before, but they were pulling something out from him.

The pictures continued to flash before him until the force of one final spark threw him across the floor. He landed on a heavy thud that earned a reaction from Rufus.

_What was that?_ Rios quickly stood up and walked towards Rufus again. Rufus had shifted his position and was now facing the other direction. Rios breathed heavily and walked away.

The moment Rios closed the door behind him silently, Rufus slowly opened his eyes. A frown creased his forehead.

The boy smelled familiar somehow. He had noticed it earlier, but he just ignored it. But a moment before when every other smell died down, the boy's scent became clear, especially when he was leaning onto him.

Yes, the boy smelled of Mako. Obviously, because he was related to someone who had been infused with Mako.

_Cloud Strife_.

_Strife was that woman Tifa's boyfriend_. He remembered her now. _Ruby eyes and dark brown hair; walks sensuously; and packs some hard excellent punches. Yes, Tifa Lockheart._

_Tifa... Uh... Hmmm... She hates me!! So why's she keeping me here?_ Suddenly, Rufus' head began to hurt. _I think I think too much. Have to sleep..._

But before Rufus could fully close his eyes and close the matter about Rios' smell of Mako and its origin, his eyes shot up again making his head hurt.

There was something strange about Rios' Mako...

It wasn't Cloud's.

- End of Chapter -

A/N

So we're now with smells. I don't actually know where I'm heading to, but well, somehow, I know how to end this story... If this chapter sucked, just don't say it 'coz I already know. Please no flames. Just tell me how to improve it. And sorry it was so late! I had little time on my hands recently.

Thanks a bunch!

Valen Locke


	6. Chapter 5: Awakening

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 and all that's associated with it are not mine but Squaresoft/Square Enix's.

**CHAPTER 5**

**Awakening**

_Stop it… Please! Stop! I can't take it anymore! I'll do it! Haven't I said that I'll do it? Please! I'll do anything! Just make it stop! Stop haunting me! Stop hurting me! It's my fault, I know! I shouldn't have done this! I shouldn't have tried to… Now everything's going to repeat itself… Again… Because of me! No! Please!_

_I'll kill him! I promise I will! He's not going to her! I'll stop him! I'll kill him!_

_Sephiroth will not return to the planet to destroy it! I'll kill him first! I promise I will!_

_Sephiroth will not return to Jenova…_

_The Jenova that I… that I… _

_I… I… I'm… Sorry… Forgive me… Please… Forgi… Forgive me… _

_Tifa._

--- --- --- --- ---

_Okay… Get up… No, not get up… Get up… Not get up… Get up… Not get up… sigh…_ Rufus tried to weigh down his choices whether he would get up from the bed since he thought he was already fine enough not to lie down all day, or not to get up since he thought he decided to become lazy this day. After a while though, he stretched his arms on either side of him and proceeded to push himself up from the cool comfort of the bed.

Then, as he had already pushed himself about 30 degrees upright from his lying position, some annoying brat decided to make enough noise stomping his feet against the wooden floor as he ran that made Rufus' head spin and naturally, made his blood boil. _Stupid brat! I'll strangle him! Yes, I will! I'll strangle that brat!! Just wait 'til I get you! I'll wrap my hands around your puny little neck and crush your throat as if it were a can of soda. Then I'll happily listen to you as you drown in your own…_ Then suddenly, his arms gave way and he fell back against the bed. _Great. Just great... sigh… And a good morning to you too, Rufus Shinra._

--- --- --- --- ---

"Bye, mom!" Rios said quickly as he ran out from Tifa's room, grabbed his lunch, and went out of the door in a flash.

"Hey, wait you!" Tifa called out as she stuck out her head from the fridge and saw Rios disappear when the front door closed. "Great. You didn't take your breakfast again," she said dryly. She then went back to her task of cleaning out the glacier that was blocking the freezer of the fridge. She grabbed an ice pick and started stabbing on it like crazy. She was making enough noise that she didn't notice the door to Rios' room open and a disheveled-looking blond-haired man stepped out of it slowly, walking like a zombie. When he saw Tifa grunting because of what she's so concentrated on doing, he just stood there staring at her, not minding how numb his legs were. He tried to speak but every time he did, Tifa interrupted him with another grunt.

After a while of just standing there, Rufus finally gave in to the numb turned pain that was bugging his legs. "Excuse me!" he said aloud, loud enough for Tifa to hear him, stop what she's doing, and stare at him as if she's looking at a ghost.

Rufus stared back at her. _I'm getting tired of staring contests._ "Uh…" he began when Tifa suddenly dropped her ice pick and went immediately to him. By the time she reached him, Rufus' knees gave in sending him sliding down the floor. _Okay… This is embarrassing._

"Why are you up? You're not okay yet," Tifa said to him in an annoyed tone.

"Try lying down for god knows how long and see what it does to your head, not to mention your pride," Rufus replied in an equally annoyed tone.

Tifa ignored him and proceeded with helping him up. She was actually having a difficult time of it, Rufus noticed; as she was grunting like she was grunting with the ice pick a while before. After a couple of pushes and pulls, Tifa managed to let Rufus up. _No thanks to you_, she thought when she realized he was probably putting all his weight on her as he was not helping himself up. She dragged him over to the couch and purposely pushed him roughly into it.

"Hey!" Rufus complained when he landed on his hip, and then rolled over like a useless sack. "Take it easy, will you?"

Tifa grinned evilly at him, and left him to push himself in a comfortable way against the couch. She went over to the kitchen and prepared her guest a nice warm cup of cocoa. Meanwhile, Rufus managed to get himself comfortable and sat quietly on the couch, wondering what Tifa was doing. He had heard that boy Rios fumbling and running out earlier, which made his head hurt because of the fuss the boy purposely did just to spite him.

Rufus scanned the meager living room as his cool blue eyes roamed all over. His eyes wandered wherever until they rested on a group of pictures that were arranged nicely on top of a hardwood side table. From where he was seated, he could clearly see the smiling face portrayed on the pictures, not only because the living room was so small five people would have trouble roaming about, but also because the smiles of the people in the pictures were so big that he thought he could be able to see it if he were standing a thousand miles back.

_Let's see… _Rufus squinted a bit trying to think whether he knew the faces or not. He looked at a picture with a man in it and on his lap was a little girl with her hair on pigtails. _Oh yeah… That's that big large man named Barret Wallace. I almost killed him, heh! And that little girl… Guess not so little anymore. What was her name, again? I ordered her to be kidnapped. Huh? Oh well…_ Then his vision shifted on another picture portraying a long-black-haired man wearing some heavy red suit standing like a freaking stoic on the side, looking as if he had no care in the world, as two silly-looking women in skimpy outfits tried to run over to whomever was taking the picture, their faces laughing and filling up most of the picture. _Valentine… Oh yeah… Old man's Turk turned… something else… And… Who the hell?! Oh well… whatever… Then the other one must be Lockheart… Uh-huh… Great… AVALANCHE pictures._ Rufus snorted and shifted to another picture. The third showed Tifa with her arms around Red XIII and Cait Sith who were standing on either side of her. She was smiling as Red was raising both his paws against the camera and Cait Sith was doing what he always does – the mog standing there smiling a little while Cait raising an arm in a "Charge!" manner. _Hmmm… Yeah! That's Hojo's experiment! I remember him… He he he… Reeve… Well, wonder the hell happened to him? Reno… Hey, where's Reno?!_ Since he realized he couldn't any thing about the red-haired Turk yet, Rufus shrugged him off his thoughts and looked at another picture. _Cloud Strife… _Rufus frowned as he looked at a very familiar face smiling…_with no two front teeth? What the…_

"That's my son," Rufus thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Tifa spoke up, standing against the side of the couch, a steaming cup of fragrant hot cocoa clutched lightly in her right hand. She stretched her hand with the cup towards Rufus, handing him the hot drink.

"Thanks," Rufus croaked accepting the cup. _Oooh, hot!_ He held the cup with both hands and set it under his face. He sipped on it slowly, and as the hot sweet liquid ran down his throat, he gave a satisfied smile and watched Tifa as she nodded her head and sat down on one of seats beside the couch. She then stared at him. He stared back. They had another staring contest… Until Tifa broke away a long moment afterwards. She turned her head to where Rufus had been looking at a while before – at Rios' picture.

"My name is Tifa Lockheart," she said not looking at him.

_I already know that. _Rufus kept silent as he looked at Tifa's profile.

"My name is Ru… Wraith Shin," Rufus answered when she didn't say anything else after a while.

At the mention of an unexpected name to her, Tifa turned her head at him and tilted her head. "Wraith Shin?"

"Yes," Rufus replied and continued to sip on his drink. Tifa returned her attention to the pictures again and stayed quiet.

"So where's Rios' father, Tifa?" Rufus asked, trying to break up the deafening noise with the first thing that came up on his mind.

Tifa suddenly stood up and walked over to the side table. She reached out to it and picked up the picture, the one with Rios in it, gently. She placed it a little distance from her face and stared at it, as if she hadn't seen the picture in a long time. "Gone," she said in a bare whisper.

_Gone?... Dead?... Strife's dead?_

"Uh… Could you elaborate more on that? He's dead? That is… If you don't mind…"

"Well, I do," Tifa placed the picture back on the table and turned to him, "…sorry."

Rufus raised an eyebrow at her and shook his head. "Uh… No problem, I guess. Not my business."

After another moment of silence between them, Tifa finally spoke up, "So… R.. Wraith Shin… What are your immediate plans after you learn to _walk_?"

_Very funny, Lockheart. Very funny._

Rufus raised an eyebrow at her and then shrugged. "Go back to Midgar, I suppose."

"Midgar? You sti… You live in Midgar?" Tifa asked with more surprise in her voice than she could hide.

"Is that so impossible?" Rufus asked back at her noticing the shock, "Midgar's now on becoming the power it once was, you know. A lot of development has been going on there now. But no, I don't live in Midgar. I live in Junon."

"I see. Well, yeah… I've heard Midgar's been undergoing some major rehab. I just hope it doesn't return to its former self shutting out poor people like it did before, you know. It was mean as it was disgusting. It deserved being destroyed like that," At the back of her head, Tifa berated herself for telling him what's on her mind. He _is_ Rufus Shinra, even though he tried to hide it like he was doing at the moment. Thinking of that though, she wondered why the man tried to hide his true identity in the first place. Did he think that she was stupid enough not to recognize her once enemy?

_Oh Teef, give the guy a break. He was throwing fits like a kid days before. He looked even worse than Rios, _she told herself mentally. Thinking about that though sent small giggles to escape her lips.

Rufus raised one eyebrow at her, asking himself what was so funny with what she said a while ago, when she was still in a huff against the old Shinra. _Weird girl. She's probably hungry or something. _With that, he shifted his gaze at her lips. He smirked out of the blue, caught himself doing just that, and scolded himself. _She could KILL you, and you unable to do anything about it since your legs don't like you at the moment. _Rufus shook his head and recalled what she had been saying a while before.

"Probably not… 'Coz I'm heading the development… And Shincorp's going to take over the place," Rufus mumbled, trying to sound angry at what she just said just to hide his thoughts. Tifa forced a smile on her lips, ignoring the coldness in his voice.

Rufus handed her the cup once he finished up gulping every hot stuff he could. Tifa accepted the cup and without saying anything, only plastering that painful smile on her face, and she went over to the kitchen and washed it.

--- --- --- --- ---

As Tifa strode over to the kitchen, leaving the silent Rufus visible against the window of the house that overlooked the Shinra mansion, a familiar figure that had been looking at the rather weird scene shifted his attention to the fat guy who was blubbering something to him a while before. He hadn't really noticed that the poor man had been trying to get his attention, yet he was too preoccupied; for that though, he felt sorry for him. But then again, there were so much more interesting things to look at than a talking Heidegger, such as that scene that occurred between a comrade and her, shall we say, revived enemy, over at the house that seemed too small for the latter. Vincent Valentine sighed deeply and stared at Heidegger as the man's face turned a strange hue as he looked straight at Vincent's ruby gaze.

"J…Just as I was saying…" Heidegger continued after clearing his throat when he seemed to choke on his saliva as Vincent looked at him funny, "the winds of Mt. Nibel have changed. Underground activity has made itself manifest through the constant rumblings that do not seem to point us anywhere. Monsters tripled tenfold. And it would seem that they not only come from the deepest recesses that the mountain has, yet they also come from the plains beyond the mountains. Something is attracting them up there. It was a good thing, really, that we were able to build those barricades before they run us over!"

"And you're saying that all this is because of the Mako reactor up there?" Vincent asked in flat tone.

"Well…" Heidegger fidgeted with the lapels of his suit before answering, "what else could it be then?"

"Then why didn't you check it out firsthand?"

"The passageway to the reactor had been obliterated after shutting down the reactor completely," Reeve butted in when Heidegger seemed to freeze on the spot where he was standing, staring at Vincent, "Actually, it's rather impossible for the reactor to work, when I think of it though… Its generators have been taken out. The whole thing's nothing but an empty shell! Unless of course, someone shipped some great loads of generators up there, which of course, is another impossibility since the only clear way through the mountains is through here. We would be able to notice it if that happened."

Vincent nodded and turned his head to look out the window again. He looked at Tifa's house again and found her marching over to where Rufus was still seated and telling him something that Rufus scowled at. She helped him stand up and pushed him inside her son's room, then closed the door behind her. After a moment's silence, Vincent spoke, "So all we can do now is wait… And try to get through to the reactor…"

"Seems so," Reeve replied.

Vincent sighed again and turned his gaze at the domineering mountains that surrounded the growing town of Nibelheim. In a deep part of his mind, he _knew_ something, but then again, he was not sure. He can never be sure. He could only sigh. However, he could hear himself say,

_Cloud… What have you gotten yourself into this time?_

- End of Chapter -

A/N

Yey! Finished the chapter!! Not much action though… Just made other characters appear… And added some stuff! Wow, thanks to those who reviewed! I'm really happy… Really, thanks a bunch! You guys are the greatest!

And oh... Is it Lockheart or Lockhart? Keeps confusing me :)

Valen Locke


	7. Chapter 6: Anticipation

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 and all that's associated with it are not mine but Squaresoft's.

A/N: For those who have read this story from the beginning… I know what you're thinking… You thought this story was dead, didn't you? Heheheheh… Well, I though so too, but well… I decided to put up some more chapters until I decide to end it… And well, I was reading it some days ago and then thought that the story was annoyingly taking too much time… I mean… Things happen too slowly! That's why I then decided to speed things up a little… Well, here goes… I'm really sorry for the great delay!

**CHAPTER 6**

**Anticipation**

_Damn it… I'm dreaming again…_

_He was running… Running away… No one was chasing him though… But he knew he had to get somewhere… Got to get somewhere fast…_

_And get help…_

_His legs were tired now… but he can't stop… He couldn't… He mustn't…_

_Or else they'll…_

_Finally… the path widens…_

_I'm here… Finally… How long was I running? I'm tired… My legs are tired…_

_Help… Help… Help me… Please help me…_

"_Whoa! Slow down, boy! What's wrong with you?"_

_Help me…_

"_Please…" I can hear myself pant, taking in deep breaths desperately._

"_What's wrong? Where'd you come from? What's your name?"_

_My name?_

"_Please… you have to help…"_

"_Alright, I'll help you. Tell me your name."_

_My name?_

"… _Shinra…"_

_Yes, Shinra… That's my name…_

--- --- --- --- ---

"I'd get up if were you."

Rufus squinted against the bright sunshine that welcomed him to a new… boring day. He grunted and turned against the light and covered himself with a thick blanket that seemed to swallow up the puny bed he was in.

"Oh c'mon!" He heard the woman say and suddenly the blanket was pulled away from him and a great part of his scalp with it.

"Aaargh!" he exclaimed, but too late, the woman seemed to have scraped a great portion of his hair from his head.

When Tifa realized that she had been tugging on his hair, she immediately let go and grinned in a stupid way.

"Oops, sorry. Guess I pulled something else other than the blanket, huh? Didn't mean it. Promise," she said almost incoherently quick. Rufus rubbed his head and made sure his hair is still intact, and when he concluded that it still gloriously is, he started boring holes on Tifa's head.

"I said I was sorry," Tifa repeated when Rufus didn't seem to take his good morning greeting too well and was glaring at her as if she's some unwanted pest. _Well, I probably am with what I did. Hehe… Good for him…_

Finally, "What do you want?" Rufus demanded, now sitting up, his hand still placed upon his head.

Tifa raised a fine eyebrow at that and placed her hands on her hips, "Well, you have the nerve to ask that, you big baby. Get up! We have the whole day ahead of us. I have lots to do! And you are going to help me with them." When Rufus just stared at her, she added, "What? You don't like it? Well, too bad. You just have to until that big useless mansion is ready for you," When Rufus still didn't budge and was still looking at her in that condescending way, "Quick, you! I still have a job, you know!" With all her might, she then pulled on the blankets to the floor, taking Rufus with it…

--- --- --- --- ---

The early morning hostility at his neighbor's house made him look at that direction, and then heard a man shout like a madman. Vincent closed his eyes and sighed exasperatingly. _Gee, good morning, Tifa, Rufus. I'm glad you're both enjoying breakfast… immensely_. He then smirked at that. He saw Rios leave the house a few minutes before, bag, books, and all, with an unusual happy grin. Funny, the serious-type kid seemed to be skipping his way to school today. Just then, Reeve joined him in checking out the house by the window where Vincent was facing, settled on his seat. His hands were at the small of his back, and seemed to be in deep thought.

"Do you really think that it's a good idea for Rufus Shinra to be there?" Reeve asked after a few moments of silence, "Tifa would not be too happy about this, as you very well know. Especially that which you are concluding."

"Concluding? What are you talking about?" Vincent asked him, trying to wonder if the direction of his thoughts were that obvious to the other man.

"You know very well what I'm talking about," Reeve replied, walking away from the window, his back towards Vincent, "We really can't be thinking about that. It's impossible!"

"It's not impossible. It's mad. But not impossible. Just what you expect of that madman, isn't it," Vincent sat up from his chair, still looking out the window, "Didn't you recognize him, Reeve? You should, you know, since you're the one who saw him grow up. In my case, I only remembered him when he was just a baby, yet that was enough."

Reeve sighed deeply and stared at Vincent's back, trying to remember. When he still did not find his thoughts and Vincent's to be colliding at all, he sighed again and said, "Even if it were true, how do you suppose that happened? Don't you think that that is completely _impossible_?"

Vincent smirked and faced Reeve slowly, "I am still alive, am I not?

--- --- --- --- ---

Blue eyes against blood red ones. Over the table. Staring. Glaring. Challenging.

First the mushroom soup was gone. Then the mashed potatoes. Then the beans. Then the steamed fish. The contents of the table seemed to have been swept away… At an alarming rate… Until the both of them happened to mistake admantoise oil for water and gulped it down simultaneously. A few milliseconds after the hideously-bitter-tasting liquid entered their mouths, both of them came sputtering it out and tried to scrape away the taste with the edge of their spoons. The "aaa" and the "yuck" sounds that came from them made Tifa giggle.

"Hah," Tifa interrupted their little game, "tastes great, doesn't it?"

At that, the pair of blue eyes and the pair of blood red ones turned to her, glaring because of the assumption that she placed those glasses of admantoise oil on the table, just to spite them.

"What?" Tifa asked feigning innocence, "Admantoise oil is actually good for you, mind you."

"Adman…? Admantoise oil?" Rufus narrowed his eyes and realized that he just swallowed a little of the one that he most hated in the world. "Admantoise oil! What did you do that for!"

"Eee…yuck… that again," Rios joined in, "hate that…" Then he started wiping his tongue with the palm of his hand, trying to take out the ever-grasping oiliness of the liquid off his tongue, and mumbling something like, "I just knew you were looking for something to distract me and feed me that thing… eee… yuck…"

"Rios, stop that. Well, admantoise oil is good for the gastrointestinal tract – improves digestion and absorption and all; it's also good for your kidneys and your bladder, yes. It helps tone your muscles, and relieve you from lactate accumulation… It improves bone formation and ossification making you grow taller and your bones stronger. And well, it improves memory and reflex… Quit a lot of things, it does, actually. Oh yeah… Lastly, it also…"

"You don't want to say that last part…" Rufus interrupted in a threatening way.

Tifa ignored him. "It also improves interpersonal relationships," Tifa finished with a big smile, and started glaring at Rios and Rufus, who were also glaring back at her. "What's the matter with you two, anyway? You two seem to be behaving strange. Something I should know, hm?"

Rios and Rufus did not say a word, but just kept staring at her. After a while, the both of them turned to each other and started having a glaring contest.

"Hey!" Tifa interrupted them and ordered them to take their plates to the sink if they were finished with their meals. They obeyed her, excused themselves from the table, mumbling their thank you's for the food and carried their plates, with some other things, to the sink, still glaring at each other, and then went to their rooms – Rufus went to Rios' room which was temporarily his and Rios went to Tifa's. Tifa shook her head and folded her arms on the table, thinking deeply about their behavior.

_Strange, Rios never really acted childish like this before. He was always serious. He never acted spontaneously around people. His actions were always well thought of – like a mature adult's. Even when he was with Vincent or Reeve… Rios never shows this side of himself when he's with them. If he ever _had_ that side of him, that is._ Tifa smiled and even though her mind says otherwise, she was somewhat glad that Rios had acted that way. _Like a child… Spoiled and bratty._ Tifa then realized how much she had hoped for her son to act like the rest of his age. Not the way their circumstances have forced him to act. Inwardly, even though she does not want to think of it, she realized that Rufus may really become something to him. Something that he never had, yet inwardly had hoped for. At that, Tifa shook her head and narrowed her eyes.

_No. I can't… That would be… Too painful. When he leaves, that would be too painful._

--- --- --- --- ---

"Wraith?" Tifa called out from the door to Rios' room.

Rufus was sitting on the side of the bed facing the window, thinking… about something… or someone. Tifa's voice interrupted his thoughts, surprised that she called him Wraith even though it was clear from her eyes that she _knew_ he's Rufus Shinra.

"Here," he replied and smiled a little upon seeing her face arising from the side of the door. He didn't quite understand it, but he kind of seemed pleased and felt calm whenever he sees that face, or even hear her voice. There was really something about her… and about that boy that seemed quite… pleasant… to him. Something that was… missing. Rufus shook is head from where his thoughts were leading him again. "What's up?"

When Tifa emerged fully from the door, Rufus saw that she was holding a white small-sized box on one hand and a bottle of alcohol on the other. _Oh yeah, it was that time again_, Rufus realized. _Oooh, happy me…_ He started to grin like crazy but then stopped himself. _What the hell? _He moved a little towards the pillows to give space for her to sit on while she will be doing what she came there to do. He took off his shirt and revealed a well-toned torso wrapped in bandages in the middle portion where that_ damned ugly monster decided to split me open! _But well, he liked times like this, when she would be changing his bandages. Her hands are soft and gentle. And her breathe was like the early morning mist, soothing and relaxing… Then suddenly he snorted. He _knew_ he had just to stop where his thoughts were leading.

What he didn't know was Tifa's short intake of breath whenever he does that – take off his shirt in front of her and waiting for her to come to him. Tifa sat on the edge of the bed beside him and settled her first-aid things on the other side of her, trying not to notice how handsome he looked at that instant. He just woke up from a 2-hour sleep after his first lunch with Rios. He usually eats in his room, so Tifa was only a little surprised at that game which her son and he played at the dining table. She had had a little suspicion that something would happen between the two. The thing she just didn't expect was that, for Rios to act so "not-Riosish". So she was not expecting the expectable to happen, which happened anyway.

Actually, Tifa was just forcing herself to think about her son again instead of the man beside her who happened to look so gorgeous at the moment. His hair was disheveled with it falling all over his face and he had this light puff to his eyes, making him look like a boy – an adorable, gorgeous young man. Tifa sighed, scolding herself, and then made extended her hands towards Rufus' torso to take off the bandages. _What's wrong with me?_

When the heat of her skin made contact with his through the bandage, Rufus felt his skin tingle underneath. He should try to control his heartbeat and his breathing though, if he impossibly can, so that Tifa wouldn't so much as notice it and think of him as a perverted idiot. Then Tifa began to unwind his bandages gently, little by little revealing that big red gash the accident left.

"Oh good," Tifa said a few moments after, "It's healing nicely. A few more days and you're good as new." She smiled and looked at him, "Just don't try to do something heavy." She then turned back to the closed wound and traced a finger along it.

_Gee, I wish you wouldn't do that, _Rufus thought as he tried to keep himself from making any sound. When she kept at it without considering his feelings, Rufus grabbed her hand gently to stop it from moving.

Tifa looked at him, surprised, "Is that bothering you? Sorry," she said quickly. Rufus stared at her. _'Is that bothering you?'? Well, that's an understatement. Stupid girl,_ Rufus thought. Then he made that mistake again – of looking through her eyes – and sinking slowly, yet deeply.

Catching himself, he closed his eyes and shook his head. "Well, go on and be over with it. You're making me wait again. You're too slow doing things, didn't you know that? You should be quicker. That way, you could be more reliable," he said as sternly as possible so she wouldn't get any ideas, completely forgetting that his hand was still wrapped comfortably around hers.

His stupid comments about her should have annoyed her to oblivion, but his hand on hers sent a jolt of satisfaction through her, making her forget the unnecessary things he just said. She couldn't understand it really. _This guy is Rufus Shinra. Why am I so affected like this?_ When he didn't let go even after sounding so mean to her, Tifa did not say anything about them holding hands. She liked it. Even though the second thing she wants to do to him is to kick him for being evil. The first is stay like this – his hand on hers as if nothing matters in the world. _Stupid Tifa. Must be beans I had for lunch. I know I had to eat more if I had to think clearly._

"Well?" Rufus urged, now facing the window. Tifa smiled and pulled her hand slowly from his grasp. As for Rufus, he noticed it and blushed. _Alright, that was embarrassing._

Suddenly, she poked at his wound, making Rufus jump, utter "damn!" at the same time and glower at her as if he's going to murder her. Tifa just grinned evilly at him and said, "Well, that didn't hurt now, did it? You must be getting better and better, yes? For your mouth to shoot stupid things like that, you must be the healthiest person in the planet!"

Rufus only continued to glare at her instead of replying some other comment. Tifa shrugged, exasperated and took out a little bottle of green liquid from the little box she brought. She poured a little of it into a ball of cotton and began swabbing across Rufus' great big wound. _Hmmm… reminds me of my own, _Tifa thought referring the scar on her chest where Sephiroth slashed her years before. When she was done cleaning it up, she took out clean bandages from the same little white box and began wrapping Rufus' torso with it.

All the while, Rufus was having the time of his life, being taken care of by a _damnest most beautiful, sexy, gentle, evil lady_ he had ever met. All the while she was applying that foul-smelling green liquid on him with her head bowed down like that, his face was hovering over her, smelling the sweet scent of her hair. _Smell like apples… and roses too_, Rufus thought happily. _Hmmm… she must have bathed thoroughly and carefully smelling like something pleasant, just to impress me. Hehehe… Well, I'm impressed… But I'm not going to tell her, now am I?_

"You smell like crap,"

Tifa's head snapped up and since Rufus' face was still hovering above her, the back of her head smashed against his nose, eliciting another "damn!" from Rufus. Rufus, feeling his nose broken to thousand pieces, looked to the ceiling and grabbed his nose, trying to stop an imaginary flow of blood from it, all the while moaning as if she had killed him.

Tifa glared at him and said, "You're overreacting." She pulled Rufus' hand from his nose and began examining it. Seeing that the contact didn't as much as crinkle that nicely-shaped nose of his, she announced, "Hah! Good for you, you dummy! It's funny hearing a comment like that, especially coming from a man who hasn't taken a bath for God knows how long. And just to let you know, you baby, YOU smell like the end of planet! I was trying to close my nose off from your smell THE WHOLE TIME. You should try to get over your fears of getting cleaned, WASHED by water so that everyone will not fear your smell! You rank!" Then she grabbed her white box and alcohol bottle and quickly left the room before he can retaliate.

When the door banged on him, Rufus just continued to stare at her, trying to memorize that look she had as she was delivering her speech about his smell._ Damn cute_. He raised his arm pits and smelled them. _Hmph… I just took a bath this morning. I don't smell._ Then he smiled. He grabbed his shirt, put it back on and lied back on the puny little bed he was in. He folded his arms behind his head and thought happily, _I guess I have to make Lockheart get geared and heated up like that… Takes away that deathly pale look she always has nowadays. Damn cute…_

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The lone figure shot his head up as he saw that he was approaching his destination. His eyes focused on the town that was getting bigger and bigger every time he visits it. Nestled among great terrorizing mountains with great factories and buildings occupying its central portion, Nibelheim could be the next town upgraded to a Midgar-like state.

He smirked. He was not going to let that happen. Especially when HE is there. He has to get to HIM before HE is called. He had to destroy HIM to atone for his sins. It's the only way. The only way to save the world. Save the world from an abomination that he thought he had destroyed, yet because of his own weakness, it has reared its ugly head again. Yes, his weakness. He knew it was his fault. But there's still time. The spirits would not stop haunting him unless he finishes what he is supposed to do – stop HIM from … stop HIM from achieving his full state of strength… stop HIM from returning to her… destroy HIM… destroy Sephiroth.

His hand went to touch blade that was attached to his back. The blade that once destroyed Sephiroth would destroy him again. He could not wait. He has been haunted for far too long. They needed to stop. Unless he'll go crazy.

_What have I done?_ He thought to himself again and again. _I have been swayed. I shouldn't have done it. I should have been satisfied. I was loved. I loved. I was happy. But why this? I should have stayed. And continue to be happy… But no… I had to do it… I had to manifest my guilt… And now this… Why this? I'm sorry… So sorry… I'll know you'll never forgive me… But it's the only way…_

_I'm sorry… But I'll have to kill you again._

- End of Chapter -

A/N

Yay! Finished a chapter! The next one's already in the making… So read on! I hope I didn't disappoint you guys with this one… Since I'm kind of disappointed with myself – I haven't gotten the story where the true beginning of the action is… But well, I'm getting there. I made this chapter to show a little Rufus x Tifa interaction, since they haven't had much in the past chapters. They're developing physical attraction with each other, which in my opinion is a start of a relationship initially and then gradually goes deeper as they spend time with each other… Oh well… I'm rambling… Thanks for reading and please do drop by a review…

I got to med school! Ain't that cool? I'll be a doctor soon! Can't wait! Cheeries!

Oh yeah… I watch Naruto now! I dunno why I just started, but well, I think it rocks!

Valen Locke

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